A Matter of the Heart
by Lucianna Gene
Summary: This story includes the Potter and Weasley children as well as an OC of mine. Enjoy!
1. At the Beginning

Ashena Choron raced through the portal and onto Platform 9 ¾. She didn't see her friend, James, anywhere. While she had enjoyed spending the holiday with him and his family, that boy could lose anyone in a crowd!

The warning whistle sounded, alerting Ashena to her tardiness. Running to get her bags onto the train, she was not looking where she was going. Without warning, she had crashed into a wizard in a dark, trench like coat.

"Please, sir, I'm very sorry!" Ashena hurried to pick up her things, as they had fallen all over the platform, and blocked the path of other parents and students. "I didn't mean to—I'm just in a hurry and I—I truly am _very _sorry!"

"It's no trouble," the man stooped to help her pick up her suitcase and owl. "My wife is very particular about getting our son here well ahead of schedule. Where are your parents?"

"I—that is to say—they're not here," Ashena stammered, still very flustered.

The man did not respond, then: "How did you come, then?"

"Oh, my friend whom I stayed with over holiday brought me back, sir."

"I see," he said.

They both straightened and Ashena looked up at the man to thank him properly. Draco Malfoy, a member of the Ministry of Magic, held her gaze, a slight smile on his face.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Ashena stuck out her hand rather abruptly. "Thank you for assisting me."

"You're…welcome," Malfoy shook her hand, laughing quietly at the girl's shyness. "Do your parents write to you at school?"

"My mum did," Ashena shrugged, attempting to stay calm in front of a Ministry member. "But she hasn't lately."

"Well, then, may I write to you?"

"But, Mr. Malfoy—"

"Please, Draco."

"—you don't even know my name!"

"Well, then. Please tell me." Malfoy smiled at her. He liked this girl. By the looks of her she was only a little younger than him, pretty, with green eyes and teal hair. She wore Gryffindor robes, but that didn't seem to matter as much as it would have at an earlier point in his life.

Ashena eyed him, wary of his rather open manner. "My name is Ashena Choron. I am a Gryffindor, fourth year."

"I see." His smile reached his eyes, which danced when they looked at her. The attention made Ashena a bit light-headed.

The Express's final warning whistle sounded, snapping Ashena out of her fantasy. Malfoy helped her put her trunk and owl onto the train, escorting her to the nearest open door.

"May I write to you?" he asked again as the train began to pull out of the station.

"You may!" Ashena shouted as she moved farther and farther away from him as the train picked up speed.

* * *

Draco Malfoy chuckled to himself at the sight of Ashena leaning out of the train to watch him until the Hogwarts Express rounded the next corner and blocked her view. Something about her…but maybe it was only his desperation talking to him. After all, Astoria and he had had a great marriage for the longest time. But now that Scorpius was off at school and the manor was functioning on its own, for the most part, Malfoy's mind had begun to wander.

To long for other things.

Had he not always done what his father had wanted him to do? He had married a woman of pure blood, he had given his parents a grandson. What more could they want from him? His son had even been sorted into Slytherin—_and _had become a Seeker for their Quidditch team!

Now Draco Malfoy wanted something for himself. All those years of pleasing his father, he had pushed away someone he could have grown to like, even love. But Hermione Granger had married their classmate, Ronald Weasley, thus dashing Malfoy's hope of even reconciling with the trio he had so wanted to be a part of during his school term.

Then he had seen _her_.

Ashena Choron.

* * *

Ashena pulled her head back inside the train as it thundered down the tracks, taking her and carloads of other students back to Hogwarts. James, Lily, and Albus Severus Potter sat across the cabin from her. James looked at her disapprovingly.

"What?" Ashena asked.

"D'you know who that was?" James folded his arms.

"Who? Mr. Malfoy? Yeah, I know."

"Dad says we should keep our own counsel," Al reminded his older brother.

"I'm just worried for her is all!" James protested. "You don't mind, hey, Hera?"

Ashena gave a little smile at the use of the Potter's nickname for her.

"No, James. Thank you for your concern, but he was only helping me right my fallen cart."

"Looked to me like more than just your cart falling," James smirked good naturedly.

"Oh, knock it off!"

"Well it did! And what about you sticking your head out the window until we rounded the corner?"

"Maybe I saw someone!"

"I think you saw _him_, and didn't want to see him go."

"Cut it out, James!" Ashena folded her arms. "I don't need your permission to make friends!"

"But he works for the Ministry!" James protested. "And he's married!"

"So? Lots of wizards work for the Ministry!"

Lily looked up from a book she was reading.

"Who's to say he's changed? Uncle Ron doesn't talk about him very nicely." Lily smoothed her robes.

"Leave me alone," Ashena gazed out the window. "There's nothing wrong with gaining a friend."


	2. I'd Lie

Ashena tugged James's robe, urging him to run faster.

"You know Professor Longbottom hates it when we're late!" she scolded him. "Oh, why did you have to eat that extra cake at breakfast?"

"I was hungry!" James shrugged as he picked up the pace, biting back a smile.

"Well, your stomach is going to get us detention. I hope it can live with that!"

"As long as yours is there to keep it company."

Ashena stopped right outside the entrance to the Herbology greenhouse and stared at James. He had been acting strange ever since Draco Malfoy had first sent her a letter. Ever since she had been in communication with him, James had refused to let her out of his sight.

"Why do you say things like that, James?"

"Because I—" he began.

"There you are!" Professor Longbottom opened the door. "Well, don't just stand there looking at each other, come in!"

James cringed noticeably. Ashena hid a giggle. Lily and Albus had told her that their mum always told them to wish Neville—Professor Longbottom—lots of love.

Longbottom hurried them inside, where they took their spots between the rest of their class. Just then, a Slytherin prefect walked in and whispered shortly to the Professor.

"Choron!" the prefect called out.

Ashena made her way to the front of the greenhouse where the prefect held an envelope out to her stiffly.

"I do not appreciate being your carrier, Ms. Choron," the Slytherin said quietly to her.

With that, he turned on his heel and walked out. Ashena stood looking at the letter. It was addressed to her on fine white parchment, in the flowery hand she knew so well.

Her mother's handwriting.

"Well, Ms. Choron?" Professor Longbottom prompted. "What was so important that it needed to interrupt your studies?"

Normally Professor Longbottom was an easy-going sort. Never gave overly harsh detentions, never got short with a student—unless they deserved it, of course—and never begrudged a student for an emergency.

"Um…" Ashena looked from him to the letter. "Please, Professor, it's a letter from my mother."

Everyone but James burst into whispers. While it was common knowledge that Ashena's mother had not written to her since her first year at Hogwarts, everyone had assumed it had been a letter from Draco Malfoy—no secret about that, either. James hurried to stand beside her.

"Mr. Potter?" Longbottom raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, she's in shock," James pleaded, supporting his classmate who stared dumbly at the letter in her hand.

"Oh, all right, then!" Professor Longbottom waved both of them out. "But I want a full parchment on the properties of gillyweed by Friday!"

Nodding, James hurried Ashena out into the nearest courtyard. He sat her down on a bench.

"Hera?" he called her by her nickname. "Hera, open the letter."

Ashena shook her head.

"Hera, it might be important!" he urged.

Again, she shook her head, this time with more vigor.

James attempted to take the letter from her, but she clung to it, a sailor to a lone buoy. He sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"What if…what if she doesn't want me back?" Ashena's plea was barely a whisper.

"She will," James said.

"She hasn't written since my first year!" Now in her fourth year, Ashena found it hard to believe her mother would write to her after so long a silence.

"Perhaps she wants to make amends?" James suggested.

Shaking her head, Ashena slowly opened the letter. They read together:

_Ashena:_

_Please do not think ill of me for not writing. Negotiations with my side of the family have been long and arduous. I have been trying to get them to take us in since your first year at Hogwarts, and I believe they are coming around. It is a slow process, but I believe that they will agree._

_I have since married a pure-blooded wizard of their choosing: Garolf Travers. I have taken his name, and your grandparents want you to do the same. I have persuaded them, however, to wait for your decision, which you can wait to give until your seventeenth year._

_Hoping you are well:_

_Mother_

"That's it?" Ashena turned the paper over, hoping for a post script or a photograph. "That's all?"

James didn't say anything as he sat giving his quiet support.

"She got remarried and now she wants me to…" Ashena's shock turned into a rage. "Well, I won't! She can't just expect me to forget Dad! Taking my stepfather's name, indeed! I don't even know him!"

"He works for the Ministry," James put in.

"So what? As I said before: lots of wizards work for the Ministry!"

"I'm just saying."

"Well it doesn't help!" Ashena stood up. "This is a lot to handle. I need to tell someone."

"You've already told someone," James looked up at her.

"I mean other than you, James." She picked up her bag and started off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"Who are you going to write to?"

"To the only person who's sent me letters."

James stopped her at the doorway. "Not to him, Hera!"

"And why not?" Ashena folded her arms. "He's one of the only people who listens to me, James. If I can't tell him, then who can I tell—besides you?"

"So then what am I to you?" James asked. "What? Some last resort? Your owl?"

"You're my friend, James. My best friend!" Ashena frowned. What had him all hot and bothered?

"I don't like you writing to him!"

"And I don't like you butting into my business!"

She pushed past him and ran the rest of the way to the Common Room. Pulling out a fresh piece of parchment, she wrote a quick letter:

_Draco:_

_Can we please meet? I have some news I need to talk with you about._

_Ashena

* * *

_

Ashena waited for Draco outside of the Shrieking Shack. He came, as they agreed, close to twilight. While no students were allowed out of bed—and especially not out in the town—at the late hour, Ashena knew a good enough invisibility charm to get her safely back to her room.

At least, that's what she told herself.

"What's wrong?" Malfoy asked as soon as he came into her view.

Ashena held out the note her mother had sent her. "This." The parchment was worn, an obvious sign that she had fretted over it up until their meeting.

Malfoy scanned the letter, his frown increasing with each sweep of the page. "She's remarrying?"

"My father died not long into my first year," Ashena explained. "Apparently she's been trying to get us back into her parents' good graces."

"Why would she need to?"

"Because my father was muggle-born."

This made Malfoy pause. That alone had been the breaking piece of what could have been a beautiful match. Had Granger—now Weasely—been a pure-blood witch, the Malfoy family would have welcomed her into their ranks with open arms. As it had turned out—

"That's terrible," he said.

"You're just saying that." Ashena wiped at her eyes.

"No, I really mean that." Malfoy wrapped her in a hug.

Ashena leaned into him gratefully. It had been years since an adult had held her like this.

"You don't have to do it, you know," Malfoy told her, resting his chin on top of her head.

"If I don't they'll label me a blood traitor."

"You're not a pure-blood, though."

"But _they_ are. I'll be cast aside based on a name!"

Malfoy took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You are _not _just a name, Ashena. You are a kind and talented witch. You have friends who love you and a mother who wants to see nothing more than for you to be accepted into your family."

"If my family truly loved me, Draco, then they would take me back no matter who my father is."

"That's true," he smiled, "and they have no idea what they're missing."

Draco Malfoy leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Ashena's world spun, her eyes closed, as she experienced her first kiss. Malfoy's hands were gentle on her arms as he pulled her into a hug, never leaving the kiss.

At last he pulled away, searching her face for any sign of rejection.

She smiled at him. No sign of denial, no pity, no regret. Pure joy and acceptance. Oh how he missed that.

Pulling her to him, they kissed again.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Ashena pulled away. "I have to get back."

"When can I see you again?" Malfoy asked, keeping a light grip on her wrist.

"I don't know."

"Please, Ashena…"

"I honestly don't know, Draco." Ashena pulled her arm gently from his hand. "But I need to get back. They'll notice I'm gone."

"Write to me."

"Every day."

* * *

Back in Gryffindor Tower, Ashena sagged happily against the closed entryway, oblivious to the rest of the castle.

"Where were you?" James sat in his pajamas by the fire. In a Gryffindor T-shirt and flannel pants, someone would have thought him only suffering from insomnia.

"None of your business! But…" she danced into the room. "I was with Draco."

"Doing what?" James's eyebrows moved closer together.

"I told him about my mother's letter…"

"And?"

"Then we talked about my family…"

"_And_?"

"Then he kissed me."

"He did _WHAT_?"

"He kissed me, James Potter! Draco Malfoy kissed me!"

James sat back down, shocked. How could this have happened? How could the one person he had grown to love be taken by someone else? He was supposed to have been Ashena's first kiss!

"Hera, I…"

"Are happy for me?"

"Well…"

"Want the best for us?"

"He's married, Hera!"

"So?"

"He can't just leave his family!"

"We're in l_ove_, James!"

"He's a grown man, and you're only fourteen!" James pointed out. "Besides, you deserve better!"

"Oh really?" Ashena crossed her arms, leaning her back against the mantle of the fireplace.

"Yes," James moved closer to her, their faces separated by about three inches.

"And I suppose you know the perfect man for me, hmm?" Ashena felt her breath catch.

James put a hand in the small of her back, kissing her lightly on the tip of her nose, then the very top of her upper lip.

"I want to be the man for you, Hera," James confessed. "But not like this. I can wait as long as it takes. But I won't force you."

With that he let her go and went up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Ashena sat down on the couch in a confused daze. Draco had kissed her and then…James had kissed her?

What was she going to do?


	3. Welcome to My Life

For the next few weeks, Ashena did her best to avoid James. Where he sought her out, she would duck into the nearest classroom. She would always take a seat next to someone else. One day, though, she had her nose in a library book, and so missed the fact that he was headed towards her.

"Hera!" he poked the spine of her book, causing it to hit her nose, making her look up in annoyance. Upon seeing James, she froze.

"What do you want?" she snapped, a bit more forceful than intended.

"I want to know what I did to make you avoid me so much."

"Nothing! Can't a girl just have some alone time?"

"You've had weeks of it; we don't even talk anymore!"

"Then what are we doing now?" Ashena folded her arms across her chest, holding her book by the spine.

James glared at her, no real hatred in his stare. "I saw you got another letter this morning."

"So what if I did?"

"Who was it from?"

Ashena faltered. After her mother's one letter, Draco Malfoy's kiss and then James's kiss, she'd been overanalyzing everything. Her most recent letters had all been from Draco.

But no more from her mother.

What was so important that it kept her from writing to her only daughter? Were her grandparents attempting to cut her mother off from all of her impure ties?

She had so many pure-blooded cousins. What did it matter that they lost a grandchild.

"You know who it was from." She put her book away in her bag, avoiding James's face.

"Hera…" James began, resisting the urge to step closer. He saw the haunted look in her eye. The look she only got when thinking about her mother and their family negotiations.

"Stop, James! Just stop…" Ashena took a deep breath and then looked him in the eye. "I will write to whomever I like."

"That's fine, just…just be careful, okay?"

The look on her best friend's face was so genuine, so caring, that Ashena just wanted to hug him.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I will."

* * *

Later that same day, Ashena sat on her bed with a bundle of letters she had saved from Draco Malfoy. She had been putting off another meeting with him for a month now, mainly because she was afraid that if she did meet with him that he would see her hesitation.

That she truly cared for James.

She started rereading some of the letters:

_Ashena— I hope that you are doing well. I miss you terribly. The manor is so cold without your light and beauty to fill it. I wish you would consent to come and live with us when you are off on holiday. We have a guest wing, and you would be well cared for. You would want for nothing ever again. Please consider._

—_Draco_

_Ashena— The days grow longer for every moment I do not think of you. It has been so long without word from you. What of another meeting between us? I grow anxious to see you again. —Draco_

_Ashena— Where are you? I have waited now for days outside of the Shack. Not all day, of course, but every twilight I am there. Yet every twilight you do not come. Have you found someone else? Please tell me, for everyday you do not come to meet me, my heart grows fonder and yearns to see you once more._

—_Draco _

And then there was a single letter from Draco's wife, Astoria.

_Ms. Choron— My dear Draco has told me so much about you. A terrible thing about your mother. But you must understand that her family—your family—wants only the best for you. We would be happy to take you in until you reply to them on this matter. Our guest wing is always open. _

—_Astoria Malfoy_

The formality of Mrs. Malfoy's letter had instantly put Ashena on alert. The woman knew something about Draco's attentions. And the fact that he had told his wife about Ashena's own private family matters—matters that she had shared with him in confidence—it was unbelievable!

With the evidence of his wife's letter, Ashena knew that she had to end it between herself and Draco Malfoy. She couldn't bear it if a family was torn apart because of their meetings and frequent owls.

It had to end.

She had to tell James.

"James!" Ashena ran down the steps from the dormitories to find her best friend sitting, just as he had been that fateful night, in front of the fireplace. "James, I need your help!"

"Oh, really? Last I saw, you wanted nothing to do with me, you told me to stay out of—" James was cut short as Ashena ran to him and kissed him full on the mouth.

Shock melted away as he held her close. She had chosen him!

"James!" Ashena said, breaking the kiss. "I need you to help me end it with Malfoy."

"Mmhmm," James kissed her again.

"This is important!" Ashena laughed, attempting to dodge him while he kept a hold on her waist.

"I know," James nodded. "But what'll you tell him?"


End file.
